The proposed research is intended to develop general procedures and instrumentation for the simultaneous determination of trace metals in microsamples of biological materials. Procedures will be highly automated and substantially contamination-free. After development and evaluation they will be used for broad-spectrum screening of trace metals (Pb, Cd, Zn, Cr, Cu etc.) in human blood, wildlife and human autopsy samples by the New York State Department of Health's analytical toxicology laboratories; and for research into ingestion, distribution and mobilization of trace metals in mammals. A computer-controlled atomic absorption spectrometer will be developed using a microatomization device as an atom cell. The basic components are a high-temperature microsampling-cup atomizer, multielement atomic spectral sources and an image-dissector multichannel detector.